PatchChat: Should You 'Redshirt' Your Child?

Should you delay your child's entrance into kindergarten? 

If you do, it's at "your own peril," say Sam Wang, an associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton and Sandra Aamodt, a former editor-in-chief of Nature Neuroscience.

Together they co-wrote “Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College,” and penned a New York Times op-ed piece published Saturday that argues holding kids back to give them a leg up is counter-productive.

The two pose discuss the origin of the term redshirting—a term referring to a delay in an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his sports eligibility—and note a delay may payoff for competitive athletes. But, they caution, any academic advantages wear off by the end of elementary school.

Wang and Aamodt cite research showing first-graders young for their year making more progress than kindergartners old for their year and say that high achievers who skip a grade pursue more advanced degrees—in other words, the "differences may come from the increased challenges of a demanding environment," they argue.

Read their full letter posted on the New York Times.

, local child care experts say consulting with your child's pre-school teacher and pediatrician is important to making a well-informed decision.

Both in the Bedford Central and Katonah-Lewisboro School Districts, a child entering kindergarten must be at least five years old by December 1, while the Chappaqua Central School District's cut-off date is December 31.

What's your take on this issue? Let us know in the comments.